OUGD601 - Practical - Crit / Direction

After taking my current ideas and Irish illustrations to a crit session, it was highlighted to me how I should consider which commercial brands have actually already started spin-off 'craft inspired' products in a hope to re-lighting the spark in commercial lager. 

Guinness already have the Hop 13 spin off
- a 'premium crafted' lager 
- very current, sharp graphics  
- much more artisanal than traditional








In 2016, they also began working to re-energize the brand to stay relevant in a quickly changing beer landscape in the United States and abroad. - i.e. to keep up with craft!

The company is picking up its pace of innovation and experimentation under an initiative named the "Brewers Project," which is designed to breathe new life into the historic brand at a time when more beer drinkers are repeatedly looking for the next new thing. - picks up on the values of craft!



The Brewers Project was created in 2014, but Guinness officials are quick to say that experimentation and innovation have always been a part of the company's DNA - to cover up for copying the approaches of craft brands!
As part of the project, the company is digging into its archives to find inspiration from historical recipes while looking to tap into current trends.

The first two Brewers Project beers to hit the U.S., Guinness Blonde American Lager and Guinness Nitro IPA, have met with mixed reviews.

Guinness Blonde American Lager was an effort to tap into the still dominant macro-beer style in the U.S, with the twist of using Guinness yeast in the lager.

The Guinness Nitro IPA was a combination of the company's pioneering nitrogen roots paired with the current dominant style in the craft beer segment, the India pale ale. While Guinness created the nitrogen-infused stout, "nitro" beers are now a trend in the craft space.

I began looking into other commercial brands I initially stated (besides Carlsberg which I have previously discussed in the essay), and I found that the all-American Budweiser had done something similar..

Budweiser Takes Aim at the Craft-Beer Crowd with "Black Crown"

As craft beer continues to chip away at macro-brewery dominance, Anheuser-Busch is attempting to refresh Budweiser’s image with a new deep-amber lager called Black Crown. Slated to appear on shelves early next year, the new Bud is the winner from a Project 12 crowdsourcing trial run: three limited-edition beers were released in a sampler pack this fall, with recipes selected from brewers around the country. Black Crown is the one that got voted into full production.

They also already have a pale ale design - which feels like a weird cream soda brand!

They are company which are proud of the fact they brew standard lagers and demonstrate that with this bold typographical poster.. Maybe should stay away from them.

Guiness have already tried 'craft' in more ways than one so could still consider creating new outputs for them.

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The critical encouraged me to go back and look at the concepts discussed within my essay and then re-approach how I could go about producing my practical craft beer response.

In the essay key concluded points include:

- Expression of identity.      - Group Membership

- Social Comparison

- Branding provides the visual meaning to the personality of the brand and consumer

- Needs to emotionally engage them to be consistently success - evoke experience and memories

- How specific brand loyalty is harder to achieve in craft.

- The effect of tone of voice and personality - less serious, tongue and cheek, rude, humorous

The selling point of craft is how it is new, non-global, authentic, artisinal, feels more exclusive, connoisseurship

- And how the commercial are trying to buy into this now

Does the design ever come first? - essays no but it obviously has a clear affect on branding, entices you to trying different flavours, but at the end of the day it is all about the functional properties of the product. 

- so does the design need to be clear representation or not? 

Omni-pollo are an example of a brewery who are pushing those boundaries further through specific and consistent art by the Grandin - but has a certain random, unfinished, but its meant to be feel to it.

NEW DIRECTION IDEAS -

1. Testing whether design does come first? does it have to be relevant? along as there is a concept, it can be as ambiguous as I see fit. - more about using it as a platform to celebrate artists/ the industry/ etc. How far can I push the boundaries and tone of voice?
2. Commercial brands buying into the selling points of craft - non-globalised, authentic and artisanal. Spin-off / re-creation / introduction of new craft ale.
3. Focus on the growing target audiences within craft that my research showed me - women, hispanics, millennials who are very techy.

1. BUT, do I want to create my own brand..
2. OR, re-purpose an existing one?

We agreed it would be stronger to re-purpose an already existing one as this sets some restrictions down but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Gives me more of a brief guideline to work within.

I need something to celebrate - a purpose / reason for the new beer which will reside with people. - Craft values heritage?? Consider ages of breweries?

IRL - St. Patricks Day is 17th March 2018 - so could design for this!?

CARLING - not only my favourite commercial lager

             - Approaching its birthday of 200 years!! - RESEARCH THIS!